Rain continues to ravage three states

Officials put the death toll in Gujarat, Andhra and Maharashtra at 230.

Heavy rains on Wednesday lashed parts of Maharashtra as the flood situation remained grim in Gujarat's Surat city and the coastal and Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh, with officials putting the death toll in flood-related incidents in the three states at 230.

"One hundred and eighteen people have died while 79 are reported missing in flood-related incidents in Maharashtra," an official spokesperson said in Mumbai. Over 3.5 lakh people have been evacuated from flood-hit areas in the state, officials said.

Officials in Gujarat's flood control department said the situation in Surat had worsened, with the entire city being inundated following the release of more waters from Ukai dam on the swollen Tapti River.

The Army ferried much-needed supplies to residents stranded in their homes by boat and evacuated some people to safety. Officials said six persons had died in the floods, which had affected 30 lakh people.

The Centre on Wednesday announced an aid package of Rs 200 crore for Andhra Pradesh, where the flood situation continued to be grim with over 350 villages in Konaseema region cut off from the rest of the state.

Officials in Hyderabad said 106 people had died in the floods that had affected 11 lakh people across the state.

The aid package was announced by Home Minister Shivraj Patil after he toured flood-hit areas with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy. They conducted an aerial survey of the worst affected East Godavari, West Godavari and Khammam districts and met people at relief camps.

In Maharashtra, torrential rains lashed Nasik, Jalgaon, Amravati and Pune districts for the fifth day. The Godavari, Krishna and Koyna rivers were in spate and 300 people were marooned in different parts of Nasik, officials said.

Chandori and Saykheda villages, situated on the banks of the Godavari from where nearly 3,000 people have been shifted to safer places, continued to be flooded. Many villages in Igatpuri, Baglan and Niphad tehsils were cut off from the rest of Nasik district, they said.

In Surat, the water level rose in may areas due to the high tide, which prevented the waters of the Tapti River from entering the sea in the Gulf of Khambat.

Road and rail traffic was also disrupted in many parts of Gujarat due to the flooding in the Tapti.

Heavy rains also lashed southwest Madhya Pradesh, as the death toll in rain-related incidents in the state rose to 18 with three deaths reported on Wednesday.